This Is Just The Way Life Is For A Gargoyle
by Dortha
Summary: Two one-shots based in the same fanverse... The rating is only precautionary (for now).Will add more if I write more. Enjoy!
1. Timedancer

Disclaimer: Disney's Gargoyles is the property of Walt Disney Enterprises, and Buena Vista. I don't own them, nor do I claim to. This story was not written for profit. All original characters belong to me.

For those who know spanish, I apologize if I made any grammatical mistakes.  
1997 AD

Wyvern Castle, Eyrie Building, Manhattan.

It had been hours since the sun had set, and patrols were over. After watching a little late-night tv with Hudson, Brooklyn decided he wanted some fresh air and went to find a stairwell.

He ascended the stairs at a relaxed pace, breathing in the cold night air. As he stepped out into the night, he marveled at the beauty of the castle in the moonlight.

He sighed. "It's great to be home."

As he approached the parapets, thinking of taking a glide around the castle, something on the floor caught his eye; the glint of moonlight on gold.

"What the...?"

He bent down and picked the object up. The blue and gold Pheonix Gate felt warm in his hand. "Wait a minute," said Brooklyn, examining it. "This looks familiar..."

Before he had a chance to ponder, the awesome power of the Gate activated and Brooklyn was engulfed within it's flame. Try as he might, he could neither escape the fire nor release the Gate from his clutch.  
As Brooklyn struggled, Lexington appeared in the doorway, having heard a commotion and immediately rushed to see if he could administer aid.

There was no time to assess the situation; it seemed to Lexington that his rookery sibling was aflame.

In a heroic attempt, Lexington rushed from the doorway and barreled towards Brooklyn, hitting him with enough force that he was pushed free of the Pheonix flame. He left the fire at such a speed that his impact with the parapets left him groaning and rubbing his head in pain.

Looking up from the ground on which he lay, Brooklyn beheld a sight that truly horrified him. Lexington, panicked and afraid, had trapped himself within the flame during Brooklyn's rescue. Then, while Brooklyn stood idly by, the Pheonix fire disappeared.

"No," said Brooklyn in disbelief. "No, it can't be." For when the fire vanished, it had taken Lexington with it. All that remained were some scorch marks on the stone.

With difficulty, Brooklyn got to his feet and examined his moonlit surroundings. No signs of Lexington were evident. Worried for his friend's safety, he ran down the stairs and burst into the gargoyles' common room.

"Hudson! Goliath!" He panted as he yelled, fighting for breath. "Lex is gone! There was this thing on the ground, and I picked it up, and there was fire! Lex pushed me out of the way but got stuck and-" Brooklyn took a gasping breath. "-Lex is gone!."

Broklyn leaned one hand against the wall for support, quickly switching his attention from Hudson to Goliath, and back again. Neither of the elder gargoyles had yet reacted to what Brooklyn thought was obviously terrible news.

"Now laddy," Hudson finally said. "Ye speak so quickly, we dinnae understand a word. What has happened? Where is Lexington?"

Frustrated at having to repeat himself, Brooklyn screamed his answer at the top of his lungs.

"Gone!" he yelled. "Lex disappeared in a ball of fire!"

"A ball of fire..." whispered Goliath under his breath. "Could it be?" Then, grasping his mentor's forearm: "Gather the others, old friend. Brooklyn, bring me to where he vanished."

Hudson left down the hall to find Angela and Broadway. Meanwhile, Brooklyn rushed back into the cold night, Goliath following at his heels.

"Here," Brooklyn told his leader, pointing at the scorch marks. "Suddenly, he just wasn't there anymore."

The lavendar leader examined the burnt stone for only a moment, for he was already certain of what had happened; the Pheonix gate had somehow returned.

A chill breeze blew Goliath's dark brown hair across his face as he looked over at Brooklyn. "It was the Pheonix Gate," he told him. "And if it activated without the incantation, there is no telling when- or if- we will see Lexington again."

At that moment, a cloud moved before the full moon, obscuring Brooklyn's features, and preventing Goliath from discerning his reaction.

There was a moment of silence between them, the only sounds being that of the street below, which was only broken when Hudson arrived with Angela and Broadway.

"Well?" asked Broadway. "What happened?"

Brooklyn, still obscured in shadow, did not speak, so Goliath related the tale as best he could. When he had finished, a shroud of silence fell upon the entire group. No one spoke and no one moved, not even when a slight glow appeared in the doorway and quickly disappeared again. The group remained still as the sound of footsteps on stairs echoed from the stairwell. It was only when an excited and cheerful voice exclaimed: "Brooklyn! Broadway!" that the clan turned.

What they saw was nothing short of a shock. The male gargoyle standing before them, bathed in the light of a newly unobscured moon, could only be Lexington. However, he was not the same as he had been only minutes before. Taller, oddly clothed, and sporting a short beard, this Lexington was obviously many decades older than the one they knew.

Lexington ran forward and hugged both of his rookery brothers. Very confused, they said nothing.

Then, while Lexington was reaching out to shake Goliath's hand, Angela called out: "Look!" and pointed at the stairwell.

Standing in the doorway were three female gargoyles. Two, an adult and an adolescent, each had the same frostly pink skintone, and curly blond hair. The third, an adolescent, had Lexington's characteristic webbed wings and green skin, but also wore the same curly blond hair as the other two. Cautious, all three remained in the doorway, and the eldest removed a sword from her belt.

"Lex," asked Broadway in a hushed voice, staring shrewdly at the strangers. "What happened to you? Who are those females?"

Lexington chuckled. "Ellos son mi familia," he said, and the clan members frowned in confusion. Lexington continued, however, before they could question him. He moved toward the doorway.

"Consuela," he took the elder female's hand and presented her to the clan. "Consuela es mi esposa. Y Buena y Inez," he gestured to the younger girls, "son nuestro hijas."

It seemed that Lexington was prepared to continue, but Goliath stopped him with a quick, "pardon?"

A look of realization dawned upon Lexington's face. "Oh!" he exclaimed, and turned to the girls. "Habla ingles, ninas." He then took a few steps towards the clan and spoke:

"I'm sorry, guys; we don't usually speak english. I want to introduce you to my wife Consuela, and our kids." He smiled widely, "I'm so glad to be home."

Brooklyn gasped incredulously. "Kids?" he said. "Kids!? How do you have kids? You disappeared five minutes ago, how did you come back with kids!?"

Lexington's brilliant smile faded. He opened up the pouch which hung around his waist and pulled out the same blue and gold object that Brooklyn had found near the parapets.

"This is how," the timedancer explained. "This damn Gate." He tossed it roughly against the ground. Scratches were visible on both the gold and the enamel, and Brooklyn noticed that it did not shine as brightly in the moonlight as it once had. Lexington continued:

"It was broken long before I got ahold of it; the incantation won't work. The Gate activates whenever it wants and brings me wherever it feels like. I know to you it seems like I've been gone five minutes, but to me it has been forty years. At least, I think it's been forty years; it's hard to tell time while timedancing."

The clan was silent for a moment, then: "Forty years? Really?"

"Yes, Angela," Lexington answered. "Look at me; can't you tell?"

When Angela took a close look, she was easily convinced. Besides his growth and facial hair, Lexington had also gained wrinkles, under his eyes and around his mouth. Also, a long battle scar, healed by time and stonesleep, was half-visible under the breastplate he wore.

Still peering at him, Angela quietly said, "yes, I can," then stood up straight and smiled. She manuevered around Lexington and reached out her hand toward Consuela. "Hello, I'm Angela. It's nice to meet you... Consuela?"

"Si, Hola," the elder pink female responded. "I mean, hello."

Following Angela's example, the rest of the clan introduced themselves to Lexington's family. Hudson clapped his hand onto Lexington's shoulder and said, "Congratulations, lad." The two girls, Buena and Inez, blushed when Broadway said hello, and then laughed when Angela told them a joke about his cooking. Consuela became engrossed in a conversation with Goliath, in which he was relating to her stories from Lexington's childhood. Brooklyn, upon introducing himself to Lexington's green daughter, Inez, recieved in return an affectionate stare. Feeling awkward getting such a look from a 30 year old gargoyle, he went on to Buena.

As the introductions continued, a buzzing sound began to emanate from the Pheonix Gate. The pale white light of the moon, which had been illuminating the gathering, was soon being surpassed by an orange glow originating from the Gate. Lexington and his family were the first to notice this, and fell silent as they watched.

The Gate, already buzzing loudly and glowing incredibly bright, began to shake violently. Soon, the clan had backed away, blinded, with their hands over their ears. As they watched, the Gate began to levitate. When it was three feet from the ground, the Gate burst into pieces, accompanied by a marked increase in the volume of the buzzing. The force of the blast propelled the pieces great distances, and the clan were forced to shield themselves.

Shocked, it took a moment before those present let their guard down. Then, a voice spoke up.

"Padre," asked Buena. "Does this mean, can it be, that we are free?"

Lexington bent down and picked up a shard of the once-powerful Pheonix Gate. He walked over to the parapets, extended his arm, and crushed the shard within his fist. The dust flew through the air in the cool breeze, disappearing into the night sky.

"Yes, Dragona," he answered. "We get to stay here." He smiled, "We're home!"

-The End

Gargoyles mature at approximately half the rate of humans, so a 30 year old gargoyle is the mental and physical equivalent of a 15 year old human. 


	2. When Joseph Met Jeffrey

A/N: there may be no slash in this story, but it contains the basis for a gay relationship that might show up in other one-shots later on. You shouldn't really see anything like that in here, though. It's just a heads-up.

Disclaimer: Disney's Gargoyles is the property of Walt Disney Enterprises, and Buena Vista. I don't own them, nor do I claim to. This story was not written for profit. All original characters belong to me.

2045 AD Manhattan Airspace, NYC

Air filled Jeffrey's wings as he soared over Manhattan. Below, he watched as his shadow passed over clutches of trees, meadows, and even the occasional lake. He sighed and frowned slightly.

"Hey, Kare," he said to his companion. "Don't you ever miss it?"

Karen looked over at him, her blond hair whipping across her face. "What?" she yelled over the wind. "I can't hear you!"

Jeffrey motioned downwards, and they both landed. Deprived of any tall buildings, they were forced to land on the ground.

"So," Karen asked, pulling a twig from Jeffrey's curly blond hair. "What were you saying?"

Jeffrey sat down on a stump. In the pale moonlight, his grey skin seemed silver. Karen loved patrolling with Jeffrey; he was beautiful in the moonlight. If only he weren't her cousin, she often thought, she would snatch him up immediately. But he was, so she sat down and leaned against a tree, shaking the thought of him out of her mind.

"Don't you ever miss it?" he asked her again. Karen thought a moment, but despite her best efforts, she could not figure out what he meant. At last, she threw up her hands in defeat.

"I give up," she told him. "Miss what?"

He sighed and moved to sit beside her. The long grass bent as he walked, leaving a groove behind him. He sat.

"The citly, Kare, the city. Ever since the Great Epidemic, Manhattan has been nothing but trees, the Eryie Building, and those cottages on the west coast. Don't you miss the times when there were buildings to land on? Or crimes to stop?"

"Oh, please. I wasn't alive back then, and neither were you," Karen retorted. Jeffrey shrugged.

"I would have liked to have been there, is all. There's no excitment nowadays."

Karen didn't bother to answer; she knew she didn't need to. And, sure enough, Jeffrey stood up and started roaming without another thought on the matter. Soon, however, she had to stop him.

"Jeff!" she called. "Jeff! Come back, we've got to go!"

Karen's companion groaned playfully. "Must we?" he pretended to complain.

She smiled and answered. "Yes, we do. There've some break-ins at the cottages lately, and we're supposed to check up on it."

Jeffrey buried his claws into the trunk of a nearby tree, and began to climb.

"Well then," he said, preparing to take-off. "Let's go."

The night was perfect for gliding, and so the pair reached Manhattan's west coast quickly, and with ease.

They took a few brief passes over the the cottages, without incident. Then, just as he and Karen were about to head back to the Eyrie Building and call it a night, Jeffrey heard the faint cries of a person in trouble.

His expression changing from carefree to serious in the moonlight, the grey gargoyle pulled back his wings and dove for the nearest rooftop.

The wind roared in his ears, and his eyes began to water, but Jeffrey didn't care. He was in his element; the need to protect flowed through his veins from both of his parents. With a gargoyle as a mother and a policeman as a father, Jeffrey had always known that his calling was to help others.

Jeffrey landed on the roof with a muted thud; the screams had silenced, but he could still detect people moving in the building beneath his feet. He motioned, signalling for Karen to veer off and land near the cottage's rear entrance. Jeffrey was left alone.

The moonilight, which had illuminated the scene as well as the sun, was suddenly obscured by an expanding stormcloud. This provided Jeffrey an oppurtunity.

Invisible withing the absence of light, he was free to imbed his claws within the wall of the cottage undetected. Scaling down the side of the building and entering through a second-floor window, Jeffrey was forced to lean against a wall in rest before continuing. This was because of the unfortunate fact that his left wing was underdeveloped, and prone to sever muscle spasms.

"Damn it," he whispered harshly to himself; the pain had started to overwhelm his senses and he had slipped down the wall to the floor. The spasm continued for several minutes, leaving Jeffrey totally and completely incapacitated.

In an unfortunate turn of fate, it was just as Jeffrey was groaning in genuine agony that another person, a man adorned in burglar's garb, entered the room.

At first, the man seemed frightened; gargoyles were renowned fighters afterall. But he soon realized Jeffery's predicament, and smiled.

"Well lookee here," he taunted. "One of Manhattan's best, all helpless and vulnerable."

The man approached Jeffrey, and crouched down beside him. The grin on his face made Jeffrey sick; it displayed a demented glee.

"Oh man..." the burglar whispered, with giddy excitment apparent in his voice. "I've wanted to do this since one of you freaks busted me last year..." He slowly removed a sharp knife from his belt. Jeffrey tried to force himself to move away, without success, while mentally beating himself for allowing this situation to arise.

With his prey still moaning from the continuous spasm, the burlar caressed the cold blade against Jeffrey's chest. Then, as he prepared to puncture the skin, a new figure appeared in the room's doorway.

Having hoped that Karen had come to his rescue, Jeffrey was filled with surprise and suspicion when another human enterd the room.The burglar, however, noticed nothing. And he remained ignorant of the new presence up until he was knocked unconscious from behind.  
Though filled with relief, a particularly strong spasm caused Jeffrey to groan. The room's new occupant ran over to help.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Jeffrey stood, cautiously. On his face was the most pathetic expression of embarrassment that the stranger had ever seen, and he pitied the gargoyle.

The stranger extended his hand. "My name's Joseph Bertram. That guy was robbing my cottage here and, well, thanks for trying to help."

Jeffrey accepted the hand. He grimaced, causing his nose and brow ridges to crease. "I didn't do too well though, did I?"

Joseph smiled. "Yeah, well. It turned out okay."

He then pulled Jeffrey's arm over his shoulders, and helped him walk out of the room and down the stairs.

When the two men reached the bottom of the stairwell, Karen was just emerging from within the den.

"Jeff!" she exclaimed. "Jeff! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he responded. "Where the hell were you? Some low-grade burglar nearly sliced me up like luncheon meat."

The concern that had, only moments ago, been apparent on Karen's leaf-green face was quickly replaced by severe annoyance.

"It's not like I was sitting around watching the television," she said. "I was canvassing the main floor. Have you seen this place? It's huge!"

"Yeah, yeah." Jeffrey rolled his shoulder; it was still sore, but was no longer causing him any great discomfort. He, however, still felt worn, and went to sit on the leather sofa nearby. As a rule, he would normally stay away from animal products, but was currently too tuckered-out to care. Joseph ran off to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water for his wounded guest, and Karen sat down on a overstuffed chair facing the stairs.

"It happened again, didn't it?" she asked. Jeffrey sat silently, trying to think of a plausible excuse, but came up with nothing. Instead, he decided to pretend there had been no spasm. He sat up straight, brushed a blond lock out of his face, and stared defiantly into Karen's bright brown eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked her. She sighed.

"Don't lie to me, Jeffrey Ricardo Bluestone." Jeffrey winced; he hated when people used his full name. "The only reason you were allowed to start patrolling again was because you said you had grown out of the spasms. Now look! One nearly got you killed!"

Resisting the urge to slump, and therefore relieve the pressure on his aching shoulder, Jeffrey remained straight-backed. "I had no spasm."

"Really?"

"Yes, it wa-"

Just then, at the most unfortunate time, Joseph re-entered the living room with Jeffrey's water. "Here you go," he said, passing it to him. "I hope you're okay. I'm studying to become a doctor; that was a muscle spasm, right?"

Jeffrey groaned, he took a sip. "Thanks, I'll be fine."

"Aha!" Karen exclaimed. "You're right, you'll be fine, because once the others find out about this, you won't be going out on patrol any time soon."

"Karen!"

She shook her head; Joseph looked on, confused.

"No way, cousin. Not only are you a danger to yourself in this condition, but you aren't any use as back-up. What if that burglar had gone after me, and you were incapacitated at the time? I shudder just thinking about it!"

The argument over Jeffrey's fitness continued for quite a long time; in fact; the duration was so lengthy that it was soon close to daybreak, and they were no closer to a compromise. Jeffrey wanted Karen to keep his episode a secret, while she was dead-set on informing Goliath, Brooklyn, and Artus.

Eventually, it was Joseph who provided a workable answer. The tall, brown-haired human suggested that, perhaps, Jeffrey should visit a doctor, who would then inform Goliath, Brooklyn, and Artus when Jeffrey was qualified to patrol again.

"I suppose I could live with that," said Jeffrey. "Anything, if it means I'll be out protecting to populace again." Joseph smiled.

"You know," he told his gargoyles guests. "I've been working as an aide in a physiotherapist's office; I can probably get you some special consederation if you go there."

Jeffery thought it was pretty nice of this guy to offer them his services, especially since they had been no help whatsoever in ridding his cottage of that burglar.

"Sure."

By the time Joseph had retrieved a business card for Jeffery, it was too late for he and Karen to return to the castle. Instead, they were allowed to stay the day in the living room of Joseph's rather large cottage.

Feeling sunrise, Jeffrey got into position. "You don't have to do this; Kare and I would be just as comfortable outside."

"No, you're welcome here."

"Thank-you."

The sun breached the horizon. As his body began to convert from flesh to an organic stone, Jeffrey smiled. "I think I'm going to like you, Joseph."

-The End


End file.
